My guitar skills seem to have stagnated.

Okay, I've been playing for about 4 years, so I do have a reasonable level of guitar playing skill. I never really 'practised' as such, I just messed around with a few songs I liked and ended up getting better at guitar that way, and I could feel myself steadily getting better, but I've realised that I'm not getting much better anymore, and it is getting ridiculously frustrating. I think it has something to do with my laid-back way of practising.

Anyway, have any of you guys got any tips on how I can improve my guitar playing or how to actually practice effectively?

do you improvise?look up backing tracks on youtube and try to solo over them.

once you've been doing a little bit of that, try learning a few scales. learn the scales ALL OVER the fretboard, learn all the cool licks in that scale, in all positions.

try a completely different style. try country music one week, try some funk the next, then some progressive metal or something. jut look up beginner instructional videos, best country/funk/etc song lists, and give it a go.

I felt the same way a few times, playing around 7 yrs now, like last month I felt like I wasshit. Then today I was like wow, I can play that pretty good, and it makes me feel great. I noodle a lot too, but I make sure to spend time on what I can't do well and stuff I actually hate, but it pays off. Vid yourself every few months, when you can see the change it inspires you a bit.

Yeah I play hrs over backing tracks, generic jam track lists on youtube and a bunch of other stuff I downloaded. It makes it way more fun. I don't play the real leads, I only improvise in the same style, it's more creative and easier.

Edit...I'm just assuming you want to play lead and know the major/min/pent scale pretty good

^ This, it took me ages to figure out the way to write good music is to imagine it in your head, and then transcribe it onto the guitar (or whatever instrument you play, or notation software, or whatever).

This being the case, ear training and transcription are so important and so underrated. I try to practice them a lot now and I still think I need to put a lot more time into it.

Sounds like you need a practice plan, and some specific goals to work towards. Ask your teacher to guide you with that, and maybe get hold of some new learning material to work on. There's loads of sites round the net offering online guitar lessons these days, so just find some that takes your fancy!

I'm in the same boat. Been playing off and on since I was nine, but still just banging around.Just started checking out JamPlay. All sorts of styles. Great teachers. Some of the teachers also do live chats every week so you can ask question. I'm more stoked about playing than I ever have been before!

One dude that I'm digging, Michael Ripoll, has a whole series on funk/r&b guitar. Never thought I'd be able to play licks like that, but he breaks it down really nicely. Here's a free trial, if you want to check it out: jamplay.com/trial/ripoll?code=nomadOr hop over to YouTube and search for Funk/R&B with Michael "Nomad" Ripoll to see this guy in action.